In an increasingly digitally reliant economy, businesses need every advantage they can get to survive and thrive in competitive markets. For companies and organizations that rely on shipping products, the time and costs to ship items can become an issue. That’s why crowd shipping is a possible solution to ease the pressures from delivering items, specifically in last-mile delivery.
What is Crowd Shipping?
Crowd shipping is a part of the sharing economy that has become popular in recent years. Crowd shipping tries to make same-day and express delivery more affordable by crowdsourcing the resources to complete delivery fulfillment.
Crowdsourced delivery fulfillment can be cheaper than traditional delivery services. It is because crowdsourced delivery relies on pre-established networks of local couriers to complete transactions.
Uber, DoorDash and other food delivery services have popularized this business model. Now, other businesses are turning to similar models to lower their delivery fulfillment costs.
The Benefits of Crowdsourced Delivery
The benefits of crowdsourced delivery are diverse and prove beneficial for both businesses and customers. Companies and organizations that utilize crowdsourced delivery improve their express and same-day delivery costs by getting their products into the hands of their customers faster than traditional services. Crowdsourced delivery is so fast that in high-volume areas, product fulfillment may take as little as an hour or less.
This rapid product fulfillment that crowdsourced delivery provides also satisfies the need for instant gratification that many customers feel. Crowdsource delivery also offers on-demand and scheduled delivery options that keep customers satisfied.
In addition to rapid, constant, on-demand product fulfillment, crowdsourced delivery also decreases the need for massive delivery fleets and other assets. The inherent nature of crowdsourced delivery requires that crowdsourced couriers use their assets to complete product fulfillment. Usually, these crowdsourced couriers receive pay per package or per shift.
This at-will delivery fleet completely negates the costs associated with maintaining and managing a company delivery fleet and minimizes warehouse and storage costs.
Crowd Shipping the Last Mile
Traditional shipping models struggle with the costs of completing the final leg of a package’s delivery route. In the industry, this issue is known as the last mile problem.
Typically, this final stage of fulfillment is the most expensive and time-consuming. Most businesses find it hard to reduce last-mile delivery costs, which is where crowdsource steps up.
Crowdsourced shipping makes the final portion of fulfillment more affordable by entrusting a local courier to complete delivery faster and more affordably than traditional delivery services.
Our Services
At Flash Box, we make crowd shipping intuitive and straightforward. Our drivers have the experience, knowledge and skills to get your package where it needs to go on time and at little cost to you. Contact us to improve your last-mile delivery experience.
Source:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198219300089
